When a group of Montreal students finds their beloved teacher hanging from the ceiling of their elementary school classroom, the shock of the incident is, needless to say, traumatizing. Her replacement, Algerian refugee Bachir Lazhar (Monhamed Fellag), now has the doubly difficult task of reaching his distraught students while securing his own asylum from past tragedies in his homeland. As the class embarks on a long healing process, nobody at the school suspects Bachir`s painful past, or that he fears being deported at any moment. Writer-director Phillipe Falardeau adapting his film from a play by Évelyne de la Cheneliére.

Monsieur Lazhar was Canada`s official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2012 Academy Awards. It won six Genie Awards in March of 2012 including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Editing.